Travelocity Moves 250 Customer Care Jobs to India

TNN Feb. 13, 2004

Company Senior Vice President Rick Welch told the employees on Wednesday that to cut costs the company is turning its customer-service calls over to WNS Global Services. WNS operates centers in New York, England and India. Most of the calls that currently go to Clintwood will go to India. "Travelocity's key competitors are already outsourcing most of their customer-service calls, and Travelocity made the decision to be cost-competitive in this area and focus its resources on the growth and development of its business," the firm said in a statement.

The closing of the center, which opened in June 2001, comes as a major setback to rural Dickenson county, says the Times-Dispatch . The unemployment rate in the county already stands at 11 per cent. Travelocity is offering Clintwood employees a severance package and a chance to apply for sales jobs at its centers in San Antonio, Texas, and Pennsylvania.

Ref. http://infotech.indiatimes.com/articleshow/494822.cms

In the end taxpayers shelled out $10 million in various forms of corporate welfare to move call centers one after the other into Clintwood, Virginia. The number of jobs never exceeded 250 at any time while they will claim to this day they "created" over 1100 new jobs. In the end they moved in a government contractor called S.I. International (they have changed hands again since) and claim 130 jobs today. The typical call center job in this region pays $8-$9 dollars an hour. The Pikeville call center never reopened and was shut down for similar reasons.